A Qualitative Exploration of Parent Involvement in Supporting Student Academic Achievemen

This qualitative case study explored parent engagement at two elementary schools in Sacramento. This exploration examined how parents feel about: (1) parent involvement policy and practice, (2) how self-efficacy affects parent engagement, and (3) how the newly adopted Common Core Standards affect parent involvement. Teachers and administration need to have a better understanding of parent involvement to implement a more successful parent engagement program. For schools to provide a positive parent engagement program, they must understand how parents perceive involvement. The purpose of this study was to explore parent engagement from the families' perspective to gain a better understanding of how parent self-efficacy and perceptions limit or promote different types of parent involvement. The researcher used a qualitative, case study approach to understand parent perceptions of involvement and explore opportunities to improve and increase parent engagement. The sample consisted of 7 volunteer parent participants. The researcher attempted to include a minimum of twenty parents by recruiting at two school sites. Data were collected from surveys and interviews. Using content analysis, the following four themes evolved: (1) parents view their involvement as a positive influence on study academic and emotional growth, (2) parents see involvement in a variety of tasks at home and at school, (3) teacher-school-home communication is an important factor in supporting parent involvement, and (4) parents are not confident in their understanding of the Common Core standards but are willing to learn more. These results showed that parents value the importance of their involvement. Future work could be conducted to further explore the connection between involvement and the extent to which parents understand the learning standards.